In a letter to the mayors of Hudson County’s municipalities delivered last week, County Executive Robert Janiszewski proposed the creation of a regional parking authority. Janiszewski said that his goal is to make parking easier throughout the county by bringing the 12 individual municipal authorities under one central jurisdiction. “Each town and city in Hudson is facing growing pains, especially when talking about providing parking for their residents,” said Janiszewski. “Consolidating these resources would allow us to increase efficiency and save public resources.” But Jersey City Parking Authority Director Carmine Venezia said that while it might be a good idea for the county, it “stinks” on a local level. “The Jersey City Parking Authority renders nearly $20 million a year, and we’ll lose that,” said Venezia last week. “The county overall might benefit by consolidating some costs, thereby reducing county taxes, but Jersey City residents would be losing a lot of money. I am a Jersey City resident, taxpayer and public servant; I would never be opposed to anything that would benefit Jersey City. But I just can’t see how Jersey City residents would benefit from it. We’re the largest parking authority in the state, so we would, of course, get hit the worst. I think cities like Jersey City and Hoboken would lose a great deal of revenue.” Venezia said that he isn’t too worried, though, because he doesn’t see how the county could pull off a regional parking authority. “If they can arrange this, it would be monumental,” said Venezia. “Someone would have to buy all the local agencies and create a super agency. How do you do that? What happens to the courts? Do they all become county courts? Will people be able to pay fines in Hoboken if they got a ticket in Jersey City? There are too many unanswered questions, but it would unbelievable if they got this done.” But Janiszewski said that regionalizing certain departments and agencies has proven to be successful for Hudson County in the past. “We have already seen the benefits of regionalization with the HOME Consortium, the Addiction Network, the AIDS Consortium of Care and, most significantly, the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue Service,” said Janiszewski. “These efforts have increased efficiency, saved tax dollars and enjoyed broad public support. I am confident regonalizing the parking services in Hudson will have the same positive effect on the quality of life in Hudson.” Janiszewski said that the differences among the municipalities would have to be worked out on an individual basis as the county decides what the appropriate system would be for fees and limitations. But he added that the parking authority would be a separate department run by the Hudson County Improvement Authority. Janiszewski said he is looking to meet with Hudson County mayors to further investigate this proposal and discuss concerns.
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